The Trouble with Skates
by Diger
Summary: Kate has been in jail since she was rescued from the island. Now that she's been out for six months she's living happily with her 3 year old daughter Jamine. Sawyer was put in jail after everyone was rescued as well, and now he's back.
1. Kate and Jamine

**AN: This is my first Skate fic, so be kind. I've been working on it for a couple days now, and this is all I have written so far, but don't worry, it's all in my mind and I should have it updated every few days, because I'm loving how this is going in my mind.**

**So... Yeah, R&R ok? Please and thank you!**

"Saturday." Kate thought. Back on the island there had been no Saturdays; just today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Even after four years of being off the island, she still found is strange that people had some many strange traditions and habits. When they had been _'rescued' _they had all been surprised to find that they had been on the island for just about five years.

After what they thought was about a year they had lost track of time. The only thing they had kept track of was the time of day. They had only even done this because Jack had suggested it once, but that was before he brought Juliet to the camp.

Kate remembered how everyone had felt. It took along time for anyone to trust him again, but she had tried to trust him. Afterall, in a way the whole thing had been her fault. If he hadn't seen her and Sawyer in the cages then he wouldn't have stayed with the others, and Juliet would never have come to their camp.

Kate sighed as she found a parking space in front of the grocery store and got out of the car She came to this store once a week to get the basic things that were needed at home. Laundry detergent, food, juice, milk…. Al those sort of things.

As she was walking along the aisles putting various items in her cart she thought about the island. How she yearned to go back. On the island she had been free; she hadn't needed to run from her problems, but back here she had. When she was first rescued she had tried to get past the police without them figuring out who she was.

It hadn't worked, and she had been sent to jail, but she had been given a break. Instead of a life sentence for murder she was given three and a half years. This was mostly because Hurley paid them to make it so she was only in jail as long as absolutely necessary.

So that's where Kate had been the past three and a half years. Sitting in a jail cell thinking about everyone she had met on the island. Ocasionally Jack come by to talk to her and ask her how she was doing, and she always said she was fine. After all how could she complain? She had killed a man, and had gotten off with only three and a half years; she was very lucky.

Kate often thought about her favorite times on the island. Most of which had been spent with James, aka Sawyer. She had loved him more than life itself, but when they were back in California the police had taken them to jails in different parts of the country. Sawyer was only supposed to be locked up for two years, and so he was out by now.

She missed him. Kate hadn't heard a word from him since he told her he loved her as they were being pulled into different police cars. She hadn't even been able to tell him she loved him back.

**Flashback**

"James, don't let them take me away from you." Kate sobbed. They were standing in the forest waiting until the last possible second to get on the boat with the others. Neither of them wanted to go, but they didn't really have much of a choice.

"Don't worry freckles. No one's you ain't getting rid of me that easily." Sawyer said holding her close and kissing the top of her head. "I love ya freckles." He whispered softly.

"Come on Kate, Sawyer, we know you're in there. We have to go. There's men here that say they're supposed to take you. They won't take us home unless you come too." Charlie called into the jungle.

They came out of the jungle and police officers were there waiting to take them to different parts of the ship. "I love ya Kate. Remember that." Sawyer called as they were pulled in different directions.

Kate looked at Sawyer sadly her eyes welling with tears. "I love you too James." She said quietly as he was now out of hearing range.

**End Flashback**

Kate set the grocery bags she was carrying on the kitchen counter and kicked the door to her apartment shut. She had spent three months trying to get this apartment, and another two months to find a job so she could keep it. The rest of the time had been relaxing, except for while she was taking care of her daughter, Jamine.

She had been pregnant when she was put in jail, and after Jamine had been born she was put in foster care until Kate got out of jail. No one had seemed to want Jamine though, and so she had been passed from family to family. Kate was just glad that Jamine wasn't old enough to remember or make sense of most of it. Now she and Jamine spent all there time playing at the apartment, but today Kate had asked Claire to have Jamine over to play with Aaron. Even though Jamine was about nine years younger than Aaron he loved playing with her.

Kate walked over to her phone to check the messages, putting the phone on speaker so she could put everything away at the same time. "You have four new messages." The voice said "To listen to your messages press one, to…." Kate pressed one and the first message proceeded to play. "Hey Kate, it's Claire." The female voice said, there were voices in the background. "I need to talk to you as soon as you get this ok? You know how to reach me. Bye."

There was a click, and then "To delete this message press seven." Kate pressed seven and then the next message started to play.

"Kate it's Jack. I need to tell you something. It's really important. Call me." Jack said and was about to hang up but added "Oh, and tell Jamine Uncle Jack says hi." There was a click signaling that he had hung up. Kate pressed seven and deleted that message.

The next message began to play, and Kate was just finishing putting the groceries away. When she was finished she went and sat on the couch next to the pone.

"I hope this is the right number." A slightly familiar male voice with a southern accent said "I'm lookin for a Katherine Austen?" she was about to delete the message, but the next part caught her off guard. Freckles… If this is you please call me." Then came the click.

"Main menu." The voice on the phone began, and Kate hung up. She sat there for a long time. There was only one person that had ever in her life called her freckles…. Sawyer.

Kate knew she needed to go get Jamine, it was getting late, and the girl never went to sleep with out dessert and a bedtime story. She dialed Claire's home number and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" it was Charlie.

"Hey, is Claire home?" Kate asked smiling when she heard ten year old Aaron complaining about something in the background.

"No, actually. I believe she said something about brining Jamine home?" Charlie said happily.

"Oh, ok. Was she any trouble today?"

"No, we just love having her over. I'm sure you appreciated having some time to yourself."

"Yeah, thanks. Well I'm going to go. Talk to you later Charlie." Kate said.

"Ok, bye." They both hung up.

Kate thought she'd call Claire and see where she was. She dialed Claire's cell phone number and waited, again, for someone to answer.

"Hello?" it was the same voice from that last voicemail.

"Hello, is Claire available?" Kate asked.

Yeah, but she sticks very firmly to the not talking on the phone while driving principle." The man said. "Who is this anyway?" he asked.

"My name's Kate. I'm Claire's friend. She's supposedly driving my daughter home?" Kate said confused now.

It sounded as if the man had hit his head against the car window. The phone was passed to someone else. "Hey Kate, sorry about that. I was driving, and you know how I hate to talk on the phone while driving. Anyway, we're almost to your house. We'll be there in about five minutes. There's someone I want you to see."

"Mamma!" she heard Jamine saying in the background "Are you talking to mamma Aunty Claire?"

"Yeah sweetie, but we're gonna be at your house soon and then you'll see your mommy ok?" Claire said to the little girl.

"Ok Kate, we just got here, we'll be up in a moment." Claire said and hung up.

Kate heard people walking up the stairs and then she heard Jamine complaining it was too far. Jamine hated climbing the stairs up to their apartment, and Kate had no idea why. There was a knock on the door, and Kate set the beer she was drinking down on the kitchen counter. She opened the door and her daughter instantly jumped into her arms. She didn't even see Claire. "Hey baby!" Kate said spinning her daughter in circles, "Were you good to Claire, Charlie, and Aaron today?"

"Yeah mamma!" the small girl said nodding enthusiastically and getting her curly blonde hair in her face and mouth.

Kate turned back towards the door. "Claire thank you for……" she stopped looking at the tall blonde man standing in front of her next to Claire.

"Mommy, that guy says his name is Mr. Sawyer!" Jamine exclaimed grinning from ear to ear.

"James." Kate whispered.

"Hey there freckles." Sawyer said.

**AN: I hope you like it. If I don't get more than two reviews I don't think I'm going to continue it. So please review. I love hearing what people think about my writing. Flames are even acceptable if that's what I deserve. :P**


	2. Toys and Talks

**AN: Hey! I'm finally getting chapter two up!!! Yay me:P Anyway…. This chapter is kind of interesting. It's not a major chapter, but it will move the plot along a little bit. Thank you all for your reviews, and I hope you like this chapter!!!**

**Here we go….**

"So, Sawyer I'm going to have to leave soon, and I know you will want to stay and talk to Kate for a little bit, so will you be ok finding a place to tonight? I won't be able to get up here again until tomorrow afternoon." Claire said watching Kate and Sawyer stare at each other awkwardly.

"Yeah." Sawyer said absent mindedly. He obviously hadn't expected seeing Kate again to have this big of an effect on him. The moment he had seen Kate he was amazed at how different she was now, but then again he wasn't very surprised, after all it had been four years.

"Mommy!" Jamine called running into the living room. The three adults were now sitting on the couches in the front room. Kate lifted Jamine up onto her lap.

"What's up baby?" Kate asked her daughter.

"I got bored. It's no fun to play all by myself." Jamine complained, "Will you come play with me?" Jamine obviously didn't care that Claire and Sawyer were still there.

"Not right now Jamine. I'll play with you soon though. Ok?" Kate said chuckling at her little girl. Jamine had always had other kids to ply with; other foster kids, or other kids at her daycare, but now it was just her and Kate. Jamine missed the other kids, but she loved the attention she got.

"Ok, Mr. Sawyer, will you play with me?" Jamine asked pleading for attention.

"Uh…." Sawyer said looking from Kate and Jamine to Claire and back.

"Go James." Kate said. "I need to talk to Claire before she goes. But as she said you're probably going to want to talk to me too." She set Jamine down.

Jamine ran over to the other couch where Sawyer was sitting and grabbed the pointer finger on his right hand. "Come on Mr. Sawyer. Come play with me."

"Uh… Well… You know, I ain't all that good at playing." Sawyer said lamely. He hadn't ever liked kids. Hell, he hadn't liked kids when he was a kid.

Jamine laughed, "Everyone is good at playing Mr. Sawyer. Even mommy's good at playin, but I had to teach her some. Uncle Jack's really good at playing. I bet you'll be even better than him!"

Kate laughed at her daughter's innocence. How she would love to be like that! To a girl Jamine's age there isn't anything to be worried about, except if everyone knows how to play. Then Kate thought about Jack. Kate had been very surprised to find that Jack was Jamine's latest foster father the day she got out of jail, and apparently Jack had planned it that way.

**Flashback**

"Katherine Austen?" the guard asked the three women in the cell. "Which one of you is Katherine Austen?"

"Me." Kate said sighing as she stood up.

"Your daughter's here, and after you're done talking to her you're free to go." The guard smiled at Kate kindly as he let her out of the cell.

Jamine's foster parents rarely brought her to see Kate. She had one foster dad that thought Jamine should see her whenever possible, but mostly only let Jamine come visit her when they first got her, or when they were sending her back to the foster home.

Today was different. Today Jamine was here to go home with Kate. That is if her foster parents would let her. Today Kate's three and a half year sentence ended, and Kate was allowed to go home.

The only problem with that was that she didn't have a home. Kate didn't know where Jamine and herself were going to live, but she knew they'd find somewhere.

When Kate went into the room she was told Jamine was she smiled. Standing there in the middle of the room, holding Jamine was Jack. She walked over to him and grabbed Jamine. Jack smiled at them and then said "Hey Kate, I bet you're glad to finally get out of here huh?" he asked. Kate smiled and nodded "Jack, if you brought Jamine that must mean you're her foster dad. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I wanted it to be a surprise. Jamie here has been living with me for about six months now. She's been spending time with Claire too. That's where she goes when I'm working." He said looking at her face.

"Thanks Jack." Kate said.

"I also thought you could live with me for a while; at least until you can find somewhere else and a job." Jack had thought of everything.

"That would be great Jack." Kate said Jack was now so close to her he could kiss her, and Kate decided that it was best to stop it. "Jack. Stop."

Jack didn't appear to hear her.

"Jack, I don't think living with you is a good idea." Kate said moving away from him.

Jack sighed knowing he had blown it. He backed away from Kate.

"I'll find a place to stay, and a job on my own." Kate said.

"Ok, but you know they won't let you take Jamine from me until you do." Jack said.

"I know." Kate said sadly. She kissed Jamine on the cheek and left.

**End Flashback**

Sawyer had been upset with the fact that Kate had obviously spent some amount of time around Jack, but he covered it with a look of indifference before Kate or Claire noticed. He got up and reluctantly went to go play with Jamine.

Jamine led Sawyer to the back of the apartment and into a room full of little things. He was told to sit on the little bed while she taught him how to play with the little toys.

Sawyer had never seen such a happy little girl. She sat on the floor showing him how to play with her little dolls, and he sat on the bed watching, but not paying attention. He was too busy studying Jamine.

He had a sudden realization that Jamine had to be his daughter. It wouldn't take a genius to figure that out. Kate had gone straight to jail – just like he had – after they were rescued, and Kate had only been with one person on the island… Him.

She looked like him as well; the dirty blond hair, the blue eyes. Jamine looked almost just like him, except she had Kate's face. The combination created the happiest, most beautiful little girl he had ever seen.

"Mr. Sawyer?" Jamine asked pulling him out of his thoughts.

"What?" Sawyer asked looking at Jamine's toys.

"I asked you if you wanted to play with Jenny or Maria." She said holding up two similar looking dolls.

"How about you choose." Sawyer suggested amazed that he was actually doing this.

"Ok, you can play Maria. She's my favorite." Jamine handed Sawyer a blond haired doll.

"Hi Maria!" Jamine said pretending to make her doll walk towards Sawyer.

"Uh… Hello." Sawyer said.

"No! You have to do this." Jamine said demonstrating.

Kate looked at Claire. She was angry, and Claire knew she had every right to be. Kate had asked Claire to never let Sawyer meet Jamine. Kate didn't want Sawyer to know about her daughter, because she knew that if he saw her he would be able to figure out that she was his.

"Why?" Kate asked simply knowing Claire would understand what she meant.

"Because Kate. Sawyer came by unexpectedly today and Jamine met him. He's been telling me for weeks now that he was going to come see you, and when I said I needed to take Jamie home he said he wanted to come." Claire said "It didn't matter, because he had already met Jamine. He wants to get to know you again. It's been four years Kate. Don't tell me you didn't miss him at all."

Kate sighed. "I know Claire, but I just wasn't ready yet. I mean I've only been out of jail for six months. I can't deal with this yet."

"And why is that?" Claire asked, and after a few moments added, "I don't think you would ever have been ready."

Kate knew Claire had a point, but she didn't want to admit it. "I would've eventually." She said.

"What? When she turned thirty?" Claire raised her eyebrows. "He knows now ok. That's all that matters, and he obviously wants to get to know her. I mean he's back there playing with her. I've never seen Sawyer play with kids."

Kate nodded. She looked at the clock and saw that it was six thirty. Claire saw too, and stood up. Kate walked Claire to the door. "Charlie and I will bring Sawyer his care tomorrow. Have him call me and tell me where he's staying ok?"

"Ok." Kate said.

"Thanks for letting Jamine come over today." Claire said smiling at her friend.

"Thanks for taking her." Kate replied. Claire left and Kate shut the door. She walked back into Jamine's room to see that Sawyer and Jamine were playing with Jamine's dolls. Kate laughed and the two looked at her.

"What's so funny freckles?" Sawyer asked. Kate shook her head.

"Nothing." She said leaning on the door frame." Have you eaten James? Jamine and I always have spaghetti on the days she's spend with Claire. You're welcome to join us."

**AN: What did you think? I didn't like it as much as the first chapter, but I'm a perfectionist so…. **

**Yeah… Any suggestions? **

**Review and I'll give you another chapter by Friday!**


	3. Dinner and Talk

**AN: Hey! I am loving writing this so far, and I hope you guys are having as much fun reading it!**

**Here's chapter three! R&R!**

Kate thought about what she was going to say to Sawyer as she cooked dinner. Normally she'd turn on the radio, and Jamine and herself would sing their hearts out, but tonight Jamine was in her room playing with Sawyer, and Kate was alone with nothing but dinner and her thoughts to occupy her.

After a few moments Kate found herself humming and singing. She no longer thought about Sawyer, but instead she thought about how lucky her daughter was to grow up with so many people who loved her. Kate hadn't been that lucky, and neither had Sawyer. She hummed various songs stirring the spaghetti and after just ten minutes it was done.

Kate walked back to Jamine's room and knocked on the doorframe. "Knock knock." She said "Dinners ready." It was really awkward having Sawyer there, but she knew part of her wanted him to stay as long as possible. Kate dished up plates while Jamine sat at the table trying to get Sawyer to entertain her. "Her you go." Kate said placing a small plate in front of Jamine and a bigger one in front of Sawyer. She dished up another plate for herself after Jamine and Sawyer had started eating.

"So…" Kate said after sitting down. "What did you do at Aunt Claire's house today Jamie?"

"Aaron was trying to teach me how to read." Jamine said making a mess with her food. "He says that I'll learn when I go to school, but he thinks I'm smart enough to learn now." The little girl was grinning as she took another bite of spaghetti. "I think he just didn't want me to tough the tree house that Uncle Charlie and him are building."

Sawyer laughed. The whole situation was kind of awkward, what with Kate and him pretending he didn't know Jamine was his daughter, but the little girl was so cute it was funny. _"And to think she's my daughter." _Sawyer thought. The thought was strange, because it held bother anger, and happy surprise. He was angry beyond all reason that Kate hadn't told him about Jamine, but then again he was surprised by the girl; how she laughed, how she talked. Jamine was the cutest little girl in the world He was amazed by her.

It was about eight when they were finished with dinner, and Jamine looked like she was going to fall asleep. "Come on sweetie," Kate said to Jamine "Time for bed." She picked up Jamine and started heading back to Jamine's room.

"Mommy," Jamine said sleepily "I don't want to go to bed. I want to play with Mr. Sawyer again."

Kate sighed holding the tired three year old on her hip. "Not right now baby, not tonight." She said "You need to go to be. Maybe Mr. Sawyer will come play with you tomorrow."

Sawyer sat at the table contemplating what to say to Kate. He couldn't think of anything. There were so many things he wanted to say, questions he wanted to ask, but none of them would resolve anything, or even make him feel better. He wished he could simply tell her he wanted to spend time with her, and Jamine. That he wanted to get to know both of them, but there was no way to do that without her telling him to just leave, or something similar to that.

Just then Kate came over and sat across from him. She stared at him, and he stared back. It was the most awkward moment of their lives. Neither of them wanted to bring up the topic of their daughter, but they both knew it needed to get out.

"That's one great girl you got there freckles." Sawyer said awkwardly.

"Yeah, she's just like her father." Kate said smiling slightly.

"I'm sure she is." Sawyer said finding comfort in pretending he didn't know about Jamine.

There was a long silence, and then Kate said "How many years were you in jail Sawyer?" Kate asked cautiously.

"Only two. They figured I hadn't conned near enough people to deserve more than that… Not after everything that happened on the island." He said, "The two lonliest years of my life, and when I got out no one would tell me anything about you. Cept that you were in a jail cell somewhere."

"I'm sorry." Kate said "I told them I didn't want you to know where I was." She sighed "I didn't want to deal with that while I was in Jail."

"But you thought about it anyway didn't you." He said stating a fact more than asking a question, "There's nothing else to do in jail. Thinking about the things you have to deal with when you get out is one of the only things that will keep you sane."

"I don't know how many times I would wish that we had never been rescued. The island became my home, no matter how horrible it was at times. I just want that back." Kate said more to herself than to Sawyer. Sawyer nodded finding it strange, and yet fitting that he had said the same thing to Sayid just the other day.

**Flashback**

Sayid and Sawyer were working at an amusement park for the summer. They often took breaks together; talking about whatever came across their minds. The two had become friends over the years since Sawyer had been out of jail, although neither of them would willingly admit it.

"You know Kate got out of jail a couple of months ago." Sayid said as they sat outside of the park on one of their breaks.

"Yeah, Claire called me a couple of weeks ago and told me so." Sawyer said sighing.

"It's weird." Sayid said "We've been off the island for four years now, and everyday I wake up thinking that's where I am; where I should be."

"Most of us would be better off if we were still on that damned island." Sawyer said "I mean look at us. We're workin' in an amusement park, Kate's been in jail for three and a half years, Claire and Charlie have been forced to put Aaron under constant surveillance by a government hired shrink, Hugo is constantly being conned for his money, Sun and Jin aren't even allowed home out of fear that everything about the island will get out, and who even knows what happened to everyone else."

Sayid nodded. "The island became our home." He said "Sure we missed everything we had back here in the real world, but we were all better off. We didn't have to worry about losing, or making money." He motioned toward the amusement park.

"Yeah the island was a great place to live." Sawyer said sarcastically though fondly, "Constant attacks by the others, that whole thing with the Doc and Juliet."

"Hey, Ford, Jarrah, get back in here. You don't get paid to sit on your ass." Their manager yelled at them

**End Flashback**

"I want her to know." Sawyer said.

"Who do you want to know what James?" Kate asked pretending not to understand.

"Jamine, I want her to know I'm her dad." Sawyer said.

**AN: So it was a little shorter than usual, but after Wednesday's episode I just had to get a chapter out. What did you think? Did I get Sayid's last name right? I'm not sure. Lol. **

**See that button right there? The one that says 'GO'? You like that button. You want to press that button! **

**Review and I'll have the next chapter out ASAP!!!**

_**Edit: Thanks Sassylostie for correcting me on Sayid's last name!!! That is why I have my loyal reviewers after all:P**_


	4. AN

**Hey everyone! I'm sorry for basically abandoning all my stories, but I've been working on them! **

**Here's what I've been working on currently and when you can hope to see it up:**

**What If?****: I'm currently rewriting what if to be a multi-chapter fic. I'm almost done with the first chapter and I hope to have it up very soon. I also hope to make it go along with the seventh book, so make sure you read it before you read this rewrite, but some things might make it so I can't make it to the book and still go with my plot, so I guess we'll all have to see.**

**Picture Perfect**** and ****Don't know the Truth****: Ok, so I've been working on writing it, but I've not been focusing on it as much as my other stories. So it might be a little while. You will definitely see another chapter before the end of August.**

**The Trouble with Skate****: Ok, so I haven't started writing the next chapter, but I know what is going to happen, so you can definitely expect to get another chapter within the first week of August.**

**No Longer Human****: Ok, so I've been kind of stuck on this one. I'm sorry about the delay, but I need some more ideas. I'll let you know when I am writing the next chapter.**

**In Loving Memory****: Kind of stuck here as well, but I know what I'm going to do for the next chapter. It will be mostly filler, but I hope it's ok. I'm hoping to have this up within a week after the release of **_**Eclipse**_

**Ok, so that's pretty much it. **

**Oh, and too my most wonderful Beta GIAMP: You are going to be editing a lot of crap for me next month. So you better be prepared.**


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